PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No.

1612

ANTI-FENCING LAW OF 1979

WHEREAS, reports from law enforcement agencies reveal that there is rampant robbery and
thievery of government and private properties;

WHEREAS, such robbery and thievery have become profitable on the part of the lawless
elements because of the existence of ready buyers, commonly known as fence, of stolen
properties;lawphil.net

WHEREAS, under existing law, a fence can be prosecuted only as an accessory after the fact and
punished lightly;

WHEREAS, is imperative to impose heavy penalties on persons who profit by the effects of the
crimes of robbery and theft.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines by virtue of

the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby order and decree as part of the law of the
land the following:

Section 1. Title. This decree shall be known as the Anti-Fencing Law.

Section 2. Definition of Terms. The following terms shall mean as follows:

(a) "Fencing" is the act of any person who, with intent to gain for himself or for another,
shall buy, receive, possess, keep, acquire, conceal, sell or dispose of, or shall buy and
sell, or in any other manner deal in any article, item, object or anything of value which he
knows, or should be known to him, to have been derived from the proceeds of the crime
of robbery or theft.

(b) "Fence" includes any person, firm, association corporation or partnership or other
organization who/which commits the act of fencing.

Section 3. Penalties. Any person guilty of fencing shall be punished as hereunder indicated:

(a) The penalty of prision mayor, if the value of the property involved is more than
12,000 pesos but not exceeding 22,000 pesos; if the value of such property exceeds the
latter sum, the penalty provided in this paragraph shall be imposed in its maximum
period, adding one year for each additional 10,000 pesos; but the total penalty which may
be imposed shall not exceed twenty years. In such cases, the penalty shall be termed
reclusion temporal and the accessory penalty pertaining thereto provided in the Revised
Penal Code shall also be imposed.

(b) The penalty of prision correccional in its medium and maximum periods, if the value
of the property robbed or stolen is more than 6,000 pesos but not exceeding 12,000 pesos.

(c) The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium periods, if the value
of the property involved is more than 200 pesos but not exceeding 6,000 pesos.

(d) The penalty of arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correccional in its
minimum period, if the value of the property involved is over 50 pesos but not exceeding
200 pesos.

(e) The penalty of arresto mayor in its medium period if such value is over five (5) pesos
but not exceeding 50 pesos.
 (f) The penalty of arresto mayor in its minimum period if such value does not exceed 5
pesos.

Section 4. Liability of Officials of Juridical Persons. If the fence is a partnership, firm,

corporation or association, the president or the manager or any officer thereof who knows or
should have known the commission of the offense shall be liable.

Section 5. Presumption of Fencing. Mere possession of any good, article, item, object, or
anything of value which has been the subject of robbery or thievery shall be prima facie evidence
of fencing.

Section 6. Clearance/Permit to Sell/Used Second Hand Articles. For purposes of this Act, all
stores, establishments or entities dealing in the buy and sell of any good, article item, object of
anything of value obtained from an unlicensed dealer or supplier thereof, shall before offering
the same for sale to the public, secure the necessary clearance or permit from the station
commander of the Integrated National Police in the town or city where such store, establishment
or entity is located. The Chief of Constabulary/Director General, Integrated National Police shall
promulgate such rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of this section. Any person who
fails to secure the clearance or permit required by this section or who violates any of the
provisions of the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder shall upon conviction be
punished as a fence. lawphi1.net

Section 7. Repealing Clause. All laws or parts thereof, which are inconsistent with the provisions
of this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 8. Effectivity. This Decree shall take effect upon approval.

 ANTI-PIRACY AND ANTI-HIGHWAY ROBBERY LAW OF 1974

WHEREAS, reports from law-enforcement agencies reveal that lawless elements are still
committing acts of depredations upon the persons and properties of innocent and defenseless
inhabitants who travel from one place to another, thereby distributing the peace, order and
tranquility of the nation and stunting the economic and social progress of the people;

WHEREAS, such acts of depredations constitute either piracy or highway robbery/brigandage

which are among the highest forms of lawlessness condemned by the penal statutes of all
countries; and,

WHEREAS, it is imperative that said lawless elements be discouraged from perpetrating such
acts of depredations by imposing heavy penalty on the offenders, with the end in view of
eliminating all obstacles to the economic, social, educational and community progress of the
people;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of

the powers vested in me by the Constitution and pursuant to proclamation No. 1081, dated
September 21, 1972 and No. 1104, dated January 17, 1973 and General Order No. 1, dated
September 22, 1972, do hereby order and decree as part of the law of the land the following:

Section 1. Title. This Decree shall be known as the Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law
of 1974.

Section 2. Definition of Terms. The following terms shall mean and be understood, as follows:

a. Philippine Waters. It shall refer to all bodies of water, such as but not limited to, seas, gulfs,
bays around, between and connecting each of the Islands of the Philippine Archipelago,
irrespective of its depth, breadth, length or dimension, and all other waters belonging to the
Philippines by historic or legal title, including territorial sea, the sea-bed, the insular shelves, and
other submarine areas over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction.

b. Vessel. Any vessel or watercraft used for transport of passengers and cargo from one place to
another through Philippine Waters. It shall include all kinds and types of vessels or boats used in
fishing.

c. Philippine Highway. It shall refer to any road, street, passage, highway and bridges or other
parts thereof, or railway or railroad within thePhilippinesused by persons, or vehicles, or
locomotives or trains for the movement or circulation of persons or transportation of goods,
articles, or property or both.

d. Piracy. Any attack upon or seizure of any vessel, or the taking away of the whole or part
thereof or its cargo, equipment, or the personal belongings of its complement or passengers,
irrespective of the value thereof, by means of violence against or intimidation of persons or force
upon things, committed by any person, including a passenger or member of the complement of
said vessel, in Philippine waters, shall be considered as piracy. The offenders shall be considered
as pirates and punished as hereinafter provided.

e. Highway Robbery/Brigandage. The seizure of any person for ransom, extortion or other
unlawful purposes, or the taking away of the property of another by means of violence against or
intimidation of person or force upon things of other unlawful means, committed by any person
on any Philippine Highway.

Section 3. Penalties. Any person who commits piracy or highway robbery/brigandage as herein
defined, shall, upon conviction by competents court be punished by:
a. Piracy. The penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium and maximum periods shall be
imposed. If physical injuries or other crimes are committed as a result or on the occasion thereof,
the penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be imposed. If rape, murder or homicide is committed as a
result or on the occasion of piracy, or when the offenders abandoned the victims without means
of saving themselves, or when the seizure is accomplished by firing upon or boarding a vessel,
the mandatory penalty of death shall be imposed.

b. Highway Robbery/Brigandage. The penalty of reclusion temporal in its minimum period shall
be imposed. If physical injuries or other crimes are committed during or on the occasion of the
commission of robbery or brigandage, the penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium and
maximum periods shall be imposed. If kidnapping for ransom or extortion, or murder or
homicide, or rape is committed as a result or on the occasion thereof, the penalty of death shall
be imposed.

Section 4. Aiding pirates or highway robbers/brigands or abetting piracy or highway

robbery/brigandage. Any person who knowingly and in any manner aids or protects pirates or
highway robbers/brigands, such as giving them information about the movement of police or
other peace officers of the government, or acquires or receives property taken by such pirates or
brigands or in any manner derives any benefit therefrom; or any person who directly or indirectly
abets the commission of piracy or highway robbery or brigandage, shall be considered as an
accomplice of the principal offenders and be punished in accordance with the Rules prescribed
by the Revised Penal Code.

It shall be presumed that any person who does any of the acts provided in this Section has
performed knowingly, unless the contrary is proven.

Section 5. Repealing Clause. Pertinent portions of Act No. 3815, otherwise known as the
Revised Penal Code; and all laws, decrees, or orders or instructions, or parts thereof, insofar as
they are inconsistent with this Decree are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 6. Effectivity. This Decree shall take effect upon approval.

Done in the City of Manila, this 8th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred
and seventy-four.
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 1829

PENALIZING OBSTRUCTION OF APPREHENSION AND PROSECUTION OF

CRIMINAL OFFENDERS

WHEREAS, crime and violence continue to proliferate despite the sustained vigorous efforts of
the government to effectively contain them;

WHEREAS, to discourage public indifference or apathy towards the apprehension and

prosecution of criminal offenders, it is necessary to penalize acts which obstruct or frustrate or
tend to obstruct or frustrate the successful apprehension and prosecution of criminal offenders;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND, E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of

the powers vested in me by law do hereby decree and order the following:

Section 1. The penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period, or a fine ranging from
1,000 to 6,000 pesos, or both, shall be imposed upon any person who knowingly or willfully
obstructs, impedes, frustrates or delays the apprehension of suspects and the investigation and
prosecution of criminal cases by committing any of the following acts:

(a) preventing witnesses from testifying in any criminal proceeding or from reporting the
commission of any offense or the identity of any offender/s by means of bribery,
misrepresentation, deceit, intimidation, force or threats;

(b) altering, destroying, suppressing or concealing any paper, record, document, or

object, with intent to impair its verity, authenticity, legibility, availability, or admissibility
as evidence in any investigation of or official proceedings in, criminal cases, or to be
used in the investigation of, or official proceedings in, criminal cases;

(c) harboring or concealing, or facilitating the escape of, any person he knows, or has
reasonable ground to believe or suspect, has committed any offense under existing penal
laws in order to prevent his arrest prosecution and conviction;

(d) publicly using a fictitious name for the purpose of concealing a crime, evading
prosecution or the execution of a judgment, or concealing his true name and other
personal circumstances for the same purpose or purposes;

(e) delaying the prosecution of criminal cases by obstructing the service of process or
court orders or disturbing proceedings in the fiscal's offices, in Tanodbayan, or in the
courts;

(f) making, presenting or using any record, document, paper or object with knowledge of
its falsity and with intent to affect the course or outcome of the investigation of, or
official proceedings in, criminal cases;

(g) soliciting, accepting, or agreeing to accept any benefit in consideration of abstaining

from, discounting, or impeding the prosecution of a criminal offender;

(h) threatening directly or indirectly another with the infliction of any wrong upon his
person, honor or property or that of any immediate member or members of his family in
order to prevent such person from appearing in the investigation of, or official
proceedings in, criminal cases, or imposing a condition, whether lawful or unlawful, in
order to prevent a person from appearing in the investigation of or in official proceedings
in, criminal cases;

(i) giving of false or fabricated information to mislead or prevent the law enforcement
agencies from apprehending the offender or from protecting the life or property of the
 victim; or fabricating information from the data gathered in confidence by investigating
authorities for purposes of background information and not for publication and
publishing or disseminating the same to mislead the investigator or to the court.

If any of the acts mentioned herein is penalized by any other law with a higher penalty, the
higher penalty shall be imposed.

Section 2. If any of the foregoing acts is committed by a public official or employee, he shall in
addition to the penalties provided thereunder, suffer perpetual disqualification from holding
public office.

Section 3. This Decree shall take effect immediately.